The challenging jury selection process in the death penalty case against Nikolas Cruz for the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland will continue on Monday.
The Broward County Clerk of Courts summoned 11 prospective jurors after Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer dismissed them on April 5th for signaling that they couldn’t follow the law in the death penalty case.
One of them took to Instagram after the dismissal: “They called me in for this case I couldn’t do it. Death penalty thing. Sorry just cant nope.”
On April 6th, attorneys protested the dismissal of the 11 was an error. The prosecution asked Scherer to restart jury selection. Scherer agreed to do so on April 25th. But after hearing the defense’s argument on April 27th, she reversed her decision and agreed to order the 11 to return to court. The court issued the summons on April 28th and warned that a failure to appear could result in contempt of court charges.
“My ruling was premature. I am going to dismiss the state’s motion as premature. I am going to bring those 11 individuals back for the purpose of asking them whether they have a hardship in serving and we will take it from there,” Scherer said on April 27.
Attorneys were confused about whether or not more than 200 people who said they didn’t have hardships preventing them from serving from May to September were still potential jurors.
Related document
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TRACKING JURY SELECTION
First two weeks: April 4 | April 5 | April 6 | April 7-8 | April 9 | April 10 | April 11 | April 12 | April 13 | April 14 | April 15 | April 18 | April 19 | April 25
Three days: April 25 | April 26 | April 27
May 2nd plan
Interactive graphic
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The Broward County Clerk of Courts summoned 11 prospective jurors after Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer dismissed them on April 5th for signaling that they couldn’t follow the law in the death penalty case.
One of them took to Instagram after the dismissal: “They called me in for this case I couldn’t do it. Death penalty thing. Sorry just cant nope.”
On April 6th, attorneys protested the dismissal of the 11 was an error. The prosecution asked Scherer to restart jury selection. Scherer agreed to do so on April 25th. But after hearing the defense’s argument on April 27th, she reversed her decision and agreed to order the 11 to return to court. The court issued the summons on April 28th and warned that a failure to appear could result in contempt of court charges.
“My ruling was premature. I am going to dismiss the state’s motion as premature. I am going to bring those 11 individuals back for the purpose of asking them whether they have a hardship in serving and we will take it from there,” Scherer said on April 27.
Attorneys were confused about whether or not more than 200 people who said they didn’t have hardships preventing them from serving from May to September were still potential jurors.
Related document
.
TRACKING JURY SELECTION
First two weeks: April 4 | April 5 | April 6 | April 7-8 | April 9 | April 10 | April 11 | April 12 | April 13 | April 14 | April 15 | April 18 | April 19 | April 25
- 243 potential jurors said they didn’t have hardships
- Scherer dismissed 11 potential jurors on April 5
Three days: April 25 | April 26 | April 27
- 155 jurors said they didn’t have hardships
May 2nd plan
- The first 40 of the 243 potential jurors to return for the second round of jury selection
- Attorneys will get to question the 11 potential jurors who were dismissed on April 5th about hardships.
Interactive graphic
Continue reading...